295 research outputs found
PopBERT. Detecting populism and its host ideologies in the German Bundestag
The rise of populism concerns many political scientists and practitioners,
yet the detection of its underlying language remains fragmentary. This paper
aims to provide a reliable, valid, and scalable approach to measure populist
stances. For that purpose, we created an annotated dataset based on
parliamentary speeches of the German Bundestag (2013 to 2021). Following the
ideational definition of populism, we label moralizing references to the
virtuous people or the corrupt elite as core dimensions of populist language.
To identify, in addition, how the thin ideology of populism is thickened, we
annotate how populist statements are attached to left-wing or right-wing host
ideologies. We then train a transformer-based model (PopBERT) as a multilabel
classifier to detect and quantify each dimension. A battery of validation
checks reveals that the model has a strong predictive accuracy, provides high
qualitative face validity, matches party rankings of expert surveys, and
detects out-of-sample text snippets correctly. PopBERT enables dynamic analyses
of how German-speaking politicians and parties use populist language as a
strategic device. Furthermore, the annotator-level data may also be applied in
cross-domain applications or to develop related classifiers
Lattice artefacts and the running of the coupling constant
We study the running of the L\"uscher-Weisz-Wolff (LWW) coupling constant in
the two dimensional O(3) nonlinear model. To investigate the continuum
limit we refine the lattice spacing from the value used by LWW up
to . We find that the lattice artefacts are much larger than
estimated by LWW and that most likely the coupling constant runs slower than
predicted by perturbation theory. A precise determination of the running in the
continuum limit would require a controlled ansatz of extrapolation, which, we
argue, is not presently available.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. To address the criticism that we are studying a
different quantitiy than Luscher, Weisz and Wolff originally did, we
introduced a new equation (2), a new paragraph discussing this issue and a
new figure comparing the results obtained with our prescription to that
obtained with the original one of Luscher, Weisz and Wolf
Discrete Symmetry Enhancement in Nonabelian Models and the Existence of Asymptotic Freedom
We study the universality between a discrete spin model with icosahedral
symmetry and the O(3) model in two dimensions. For this purpose we study
numerically the renormalized two-point functions of the spin field and the four
point coupling constant. We find that those quantities seem to have the same
continuum limits in the two models. This has far reaching consequences, because
the icosahedron model is not asymptotically free in the sense that the coupling
constant proposed by L"uscher, Weisz and Wolff [1] does not approach zero in
the short distance limit. By universality this then also applies to the O(3)
model, contrary to the predictions of perturbation theory.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures Color coding in Fig. 5 changed to improve
visibilit
Universality Class of Models
We point out that existing numerical data on the correlation length and
magnetic susceptibility suggest that the two dimensional model with
standard action has critical exponent , which is inconsistent with
asymptotic freedom. This value of is also different from the one of the
Wess-Zumino-Novikov-Witten model that is supposed to correspond to the
model at .Comment: 8 pages, with 3 figures included, postscript. An error concerning the
errors has been correcte
Host Plant Use by Competing Acacia-Ants: Mutualists Monopolize While Parasites Share Hosts
Protective ant-plant mutualisms that are exploited by non-defending parasitic ants represent prominent model systems for ecology and evolutionary biology. The mutualist Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus is an obligate plant-ant and fully depends on acacias for nesting space and food. The parasite Pseudomyrmex gracilis facultatively nests on acacias and uses host-derived food rewards but also external food sources. Integrative analyses of genetic microsatellite data, cuticular hydrocarbons and behavioral assays showed that an individual acacia might be inhabited by the workers of several P. gracilis queens, whereas one P. ferrugineus colony monopolizes one or more host trees. Despite these differences in social organization, neither of the species exhibited aggressive behavior among conspecific workers sharing a tree regardless of their relatedness. This lack of aggression corresponds to the high similarity of cuticular hydrocarbon profiles among ants living on the same tree. Host sharing by unrelated colonies, or the presence of several queens in a single colony are discussed as strategies by which parasite colonies could achieve the observed social organization. We argue that in ecological terms, the non-aggressive behavior of non-sibling P. gracilis workers — regardless of the route to achieve this social structure — enables this species to efficiently occupy and exploit a host plant. By contrast, single large and long-lived colonies of the mutualist P. ferrugineus monopolize individual host plants and defend them aggressively against invaders from other trees. Our findings highlight the necessity for using several methods in combination to fully understand how differing life history strategies affect social organization in ants
Continuum Limit of Spin Models with Continuous Symmetry and Conformal Quantum Field Theory
According to the standard classification of Conformal Quantum Field Theory
(CQFT) in two dimensions, the massless continuum limit of the model at
the Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) transition point should be given by the massless
free scalar field; in particular the Noether current of the model should be
proportional to (the dual of) the gradient of the massless free scalar field,
reflecting a symmetry enhanced from to . More
generally, the massless continuum limit of a spin model with a symmetry given
by a Lie group should have an enhanced symmetry . We point out
that the arguments leading to this conclusion contain two serious gaps: i) the
possibility of `nontrivial local cohomology' and ii) the possibility that the
current is an ultralocal field. For the model we give analytic
arguments which rule out the first possibility and use numerical methods to
dispose of the second one. We conclude that the standard CQFT predictions
appear to be borne out in the model, but give an example where they
would fail. We also point out that all our arguments apply equally well to any
symmetric spin model, provided it has a critical point at a finite
temperature.Comment: 19 page
Sufficient blood, safe blood: can we have both?
The decision in September 2011 in the UK to accept blood donations from non-practicing men who have sex with men (MSM) has received significant public attention. Will this rule change substantially boost the number of blood donations or will it make our blood less safe? Clearly, most European countries have a blood procurement problem. Fewer young people are donating, while the population is aging and more invasive therapies are requiring more blood. Yet if that was the reason for allowing non-practicing MSM to donate, clearly re-admission of some other, much larger populations that are currently deferred from donation should likewise be considered. As far as risks for blood safety are concerned, evidence has been provided that the current quality of infectious disease marker testing significantly mitigates against, although does not completely eradicate, risks associated with admission of donors with a high risk of carrying certain blood-transmissible agents. However, it could be argued that more effective recruitment of the non-donor pool, which is substantially larger than the group of currently ineligible donors, would be a better strategy. Recruitment of this group will benefit the availability of blood without jeopardizing the current excellent safety profile of blood
Arbitrary Choice of Basic Variables in Density Functional Theory. II. Illustrative Applications
Our recent theory (Ref. 1) enables us to choose arbitrary quantities as the
basic variables of the density functional theory. In this paper we apply it to
several cases. In the case where the occupation matrix of localized orbitals is
chosen as a basic variable, we can obtain the single-particle equation which is
equivalent to that of the LDA+U method. The theory also leads to the
Hartree-Fock-Kohn-Sham equation by letting the exchange energy be a basic
variable. Furthermore, if the quantity associated with the density of states
near the Fermi level is chosen as a basic variable, the resulting
single-particle equation includes the additional potential which could mainly
modify the energy-band structures near the Fermi level.Comment: 27 page
Physics with Coherent Matter Waves
This review discusses progress in the new field of coherent matter waves, in
particular with respect to Bose-Einstein condensates. We give a short
introduction to Bose-Einstein condensation and the theoretical description of
the condensate wavefunction. We concentrate on the coherence properties of this
new type of matter wave as a basis for fundamental physics and applications.
The main part of this review treats various measurements and concepts in the
physics with coherent matter waves. In particular we present phase manipulation
methods, atom lasers, nonlinear atom optics, optical elements, interferometry
and physics in optical lattices. We give an overview of the state of the art in
the respective fields and discuss achievements and challenges for the future
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